AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“This doesn’t feel likewhyI remember it.”
“What do you—”
Before Kai could finish the question, they plummeted again.
CHAPTER43
ISLA
Isla had a vague sense of an entire life lived. A sense of a love that was not perfect, but one that had been…enough.
She watched, still separated from Saoirse, who had now become the Luna of Phobos, while the dark-haired queen stared out the window at a light rainstorm, a hand sitting on her swollen belly.
“Hello, darling,” Aneurin purred, stepping into her bedroom that had been separate from his.
But this Aneurin did not hold Kai.
Isla checked the bond. It was distant—a spark. But there…still there. Perhaps he was in another hollow of the past.
Isla steeled against her panic, forcing herself to remain, learn, listen, and see why all of this was so important.
“You’re back.” Saoirse smiled, but there was a tiredness in her eyes. Even Aneurin seemed to have aged, his hair graying at the sides and on his beard.
“I am,” he said, leaning down to place a kiss on her neck, sliding a hand over where hers sat on her stomach. Isla fought back against the uneasiness of intruding on an intimate moment.
“I feel like I’ve barely seen you,” Saoirse breathed, her voice vacant as Aneurin kissed her again. Gentle, but not tender.
“There's much to be done, dear.” Aneurin’s voice had an underlying darkness as he stepped back from her, heading for her side table to pour himself a glass of water from the crystal pitcher. He pinched between his brows.
“Are you still having those headaches?” she asked.
Aneurin took a long drink. “Nothing to worry about.”
Saoirse’s features fell in doubt, and she hesitated before saying, “I heard something today…Is it true? Are we really going to war with Io?”
Isla’s heart stopped, and a lethalness flashed in Aneurin’s eyes. She could’ve sworn she felt the room tighten, the aura shift. “If I have my way, yes.”
She knew the same dread that sluiced through her ran through Saoirse, too. “There has to be another way—a better way. I don't want to bring our child into a world of bloodshed and death. Can’t you come to an agreement?”
Aneurin’s nostrils flared, his voice gravelly. “The Imperial Alpha will never relinquish that power he holds; you know that. And as long as we are under his thumb, we will not thrive.None of uswill. None of us butthem.” He rose to his feet.
“Wait,” Saoirse called out, and there had been years of these abrupt ends to conversations and quick goodbyes behind the word. “You just got back. Can’t you spend the night with me?”
Aneurin pursed his lips, hesitating, scanning his mate, then her bed. “I need to leave for Iapetus before dawn. If I spend the night with you, dear, I won’t be doing much sleeping.”
The innuendo didn’t do much to rouse Saoirse’s lips. She looked away from him. “Why bother coming back at all? Weren’t you just in Tethys?”
Aneurin sighed, closing the distance between them. “I came to see my mate and child. Our future alpha.” He leaned down, placing a hand on her belly and kissing her again. “I am doing this for us, my love.All of us.For our future. It will be brighter than any ever was.”
“I can’t imagine how bright it could be shrouded in so much darkness.”
Aneurin said nothing, only kissing her once more and leaving.
Isla gritted her teeth, her nails digging into her forearms as she watched Saoirse cry and cry and cry.
In the emptiness of this bedroom, it all rushed by her. Their love had not been perfect—and it hadbarelybeen enough. Aneurin valued power over all, even her.
She glanced around the room, seeking out Kai, feeling the hours pass by like wind against her cheeks as Saoirse rested.
